Bottling returns today to F.X. Matt brewery

Monday

Jun 30, 2008 at 12:01 AMJun 30, 2008 at 7:43 PM

Don’t worry – last month’s fire at the F.X. Matt Brewing Co. won’t prevent you from sipping a bottle of Saranac beer this Independence Day weekend. Bottling operations are scheduled to begin again today at the brewery, only about one month after the May 29 fire.

BRYON ACKERMAN

Don’t worry – last month’s fire at the F.X. Matt Brewing Co. won’t prevent you from sipping a bottle of Saranac beer this Independence Day weekend.

Bottling operations are scheduled to begin again today at the brewery, only about one month after the May 29 fire. And those bottles will start being shipped to stores by the end of the day.

June 23: High Falls Brewing Co. in Rochester began filling in by conducting F.X. Matt’s canning operations.

Monday: Bottling resumes at the Utica brewery. A 10:30 a.m. news conference at the brewery will discuss the building damaged in the fire.

A 30-day turnaround is great, company President Nicholas Matt said Sunday. But the weeks of only conservatively promoting the product and managing inventories to keep beer on store shelves came at a time that normally means big business.

“Make no mistake – we missed probably the best month of the year,” Matt said. “However long it took was too long.”

The blaze accidentally started by welders seriously damaged a processing facility and collapsed its roof. It also caused hundreds of West Uticans to evacuate and ruined the first Saranac Thursday of the year. Brewery leaders said that night they planned to rebuild.

Just one month later, the building has been straightened up to the point where it almost looks like nothing happened, Matt said.

“It’s been pretty amazing that we have been able to clean up as much as we have,” he said.

Firms InStar Services Group and New York State Painting conducted the cleanup and improvements at the facility, Matt said.

Despite $10 million in damages, it only took a few days for brewing to start again, and Saranac Thursday was back just seven days after the fire.

On June 23, High Falls Brewing Co. in Rochester began taking on F.X. Matt Brewing Co.’s canning operations and will continue to do so until the equipment is available again in Utica.

But bottling is back.

Utica Common Councilman James Zecca, D-2, who represents the brewery district, said he was pleased to hear about the quick turnaround.

“Wow, they got it up and running already?” he said. “That’s amazing.”

Zecca, who makes sure to have a bottle of Saranac root beer on his desk at each council meeting, went door-to-door the night of the fire to check on residents and encourage them to seal their homes.

The return of bottling operations is important because the Matt family’s brewery is key to the local economy, he said.

“I’m very excited for them,” he said. “The family has really stuck together and supported Utica for many years.”

The brewery opened in 1888 and made it through 13 years of Prohibition.

At the North Utica Price Chopper, the brewery’s beer has stayed in stock and seems to be selling slightly more frequently than usual, said Chris Fillmore, the store’s night manager.

“The Saranac products have been really good actually,” he said.

And now, Fillmore won’t have to worry about running out of Saranac bottles during a busy Fourth of July weekend.

“It’s great that they can start bottling again so soon after the major fire,” he said.